Tips and Tricks

Okay. I'm going to take a moment to write down certain techniques I've learned for getting great deals on groceries and more. Props to Jill Cataldo, an old friend I knew as Jill Ratzlaff back in the day, and her awesome website for being such a great reference. Her website is pretty specific to the Chicagoland area; this here is my attempt to provide a similar service locally.

1. Coupons should be viewed as money. If you can at all conceivably see yourself ever purchasing that product, CLIP IT. Sure, you may not need Pepto Bismol today, but tomorrow when the market drops another 150 pts you just might, and that $1.50 off may lessen the pain a little.

2. Just because you got the coupon this week doesn't mean use it this week. Look. Grocery and big-box stores have a 12 week cycle of sales, meaning at some point in that 12 weeks each item in the store will be at it's lowest price point. That's when you swoop in with you high value coupon to couple it with the low priced merchandise and get the awesomest possible deal.

3. Bigger is not necessarily better when couponing. The Walmart mentality has conditioned us to think we get a better deal buying in bulk. But it is not usually so. First, studies show that much of bulk purchases are thrown out, spoiled before consumed. But beyond that, consider this - some coupons to not specify a minimum size. Which means you can take, say, a coupon for $1.25 off Dove deodorant, and instead of buying the $2.99, 4 oz version, pick up the 1.4 oz trial size at $1.29. Do the math - $0.04 for 1.4 oz is a better deal than $1.74 for 4 oz.

4. Store coupons can be stacked with manufacturers coupons. An example. Walgreens advertises in their weekly circular that all Garnier shampoo is half off - $2.99. But they've got an in-store coupon for an additional $2 off. Cool! But if you also have a coupon from the paper or internet for $1 off, they'll let you use it - and pay you $0.01 to relieve them of their shampoo.

5. Watch for catalinas - those coupons that print up at the register. They're called catalinas because of the printer that's used to generate them. Some will come up with no advertising. Often when you purchase one brand, say, Boca veggie patties, that'll trigger a catalina for a dollar off Morningstar veggie patties. You can't really know in advance when those will come up. But then there are other times stores will advertise a promotion, and sometimes they're for kinda high-value catalinas. The only two stores I know of locally that do it are Safeway and Walgreens. At Safeway it'll work like this - buy $30 worth of selected merchandise and get a coupon for $10 off your next purchase at check out. Walgreen's calls theirs Register Rewards. Target occasionally gives gift cards.

6. Each week each store will usually have one or two super-awesome deals. When not perishable - STOCK UP SHAMELESSLY.

7. Big chain stores have websites. First, get to know them for the circulars and printable coupons. Secondly, sometimes you can load coupons onto your club card that can be paired with paper coupons.

It's late. I'll blog more when my mind clears. Aloha.